Did Bridgerton bring sexy back? Or did it prove we’re still uncomfortable with some sex on TV?

When Nicola Coughlan, who plays Bridgerton’s Penelope Featherington, was at a screening in Dublin promoting part two of season three earlier this month, she was asked by a journalist if she felt “brave” for showing her breasts on screen.

Let’s take a second to think about that. Firstly, would a man be asked that question? As in, did he feel brave showing his penis on screen? Not likely. Is it a question that would have been asked of a woman who is usually considered an acceptable size for leading lady roles? Probably not.

Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton as Penelope and Colin in Bridgerton.

Coughlan, of course, had the perfect response: “You know, it is hard because I think women with my body type, women with perfect breasts – we do not see ourselves onscreen enough. I am very proud as a member of the perfect-breasts community. I hope you enjoy seeing them.”

The audience laughed, Coughlan laughed and carried on, as she has for the last few months, defending her decision to get her boobs out – “my idea, my choice” – as she and co-star Luke Newton promoted the series’, er, climax: the long-awaited sex scene between their characters, Penelope and Colin.

That Coughlan had to address her body shape repeatedly shows that even though Bridgerton is rightly praised for its female-focused sex scenes, we still have a way to go when it comes to seeing desire in all shapes, sizes and ages on screen.

Over the past 20 years, television has broken what were once considered taboos one way or another: same-sex or mixed race relationships are pretty standard on screen these days, even Doctor Who has been permitted his “gayest kiss ever”, while TV shows around mental health, trauma and sexual assault are considered vital storytelling.

Nicola Coughlan takes the romantic lead in season three of Bridgerton.Credit: Netflix

But what hasn’t changed that much is the kind of people we see as worthy of desire on screen. Women who are Coughlan’s size – a perfectly normal size, I might add – are still the exception in terms of traditional leading lady roles. Yes, it’s OK if they are in some way damaged but funny (think Bridget Everett in Somebody Somewhere) or just plain damaged (Jessica Gunning as Martha in Baby Reindeer), but as an object of desire? Certainly not.

Even men cop it. Newton had to undergo a complete glow-up from a nerdy childhood friend to be considered a worthy and sturdy leading man for season three. To be anything less in Bridgerton-land leaves you relegated to comedy brother-in-law roles.

Of course, it’s not just body shape. It’s also age. When And Just Like That opened its second season with a montage of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte et al all heading towards bed with their partners, it was criticised for having too much sex (just as season one was criticised for having not enough sex). These ladies – all women in their 50s – can’t win! Or they can’t win full stop because they are older women enjoying an active sex life.

When Sex and the City premiered in 1998, it was considered groundbreaking that four women could be so open about sex. They talked about it, they boasted about it, they tried it every which way (and on Sundays). But fast-forward 20-plus years and, suddenly, it’s a bit icky?

And just like that ... Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) reunites with former fiance Aiden (John Corbett).Credit: HBO/Binge

Granted, the writing on And Just Like That isn’t as snappy as it once was on Sex and the City, but what hasn’t changed is the show’s approach to sex. Think back to the first season of Sex and the City, early on Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is nude from the waist up. No bother, that’s what Sex and the City was all about. But when the same thing happened in And Just Like That? It was called sloppy and awkward, with one headline yelling, “Stop getting sex wrong!” Never mind that Miranda was having the most adventurous sex of the lot of them, with her nonbinary lover Che, but because she was an older woman it was somehow OK to make fun of her.

Michael Patrick King, the showrunner behind Sex and the City and the sequel series, defended the approach to sex in both shows, telling The Hollywood Reporter it was always meant to be “glamorous or aspirational or funny”. Again, things women of a certain age were never allowed to be.

Even on reality television, we are routinely presented with contestants who are basically hot (usually white, hetero and tanned, destined for extra screen time) or not (the dorks and virgins who will be voted off quickly or used as an entertaining B-plot).

The final word on all this goes to Coughlan, who even before the Bridgerton hype was destined to be a star with her breakout turn in Derry Girls. In a column Coughlan wrote for The Guardian in 2018, in response to a theatre review in which she was called a “fat little girl”, she said: “I hope in the future that more people will talk about our work, our inspirations, our drive, rather than our looks. A revolution is happening, and I want to play my part in it.”

In Bridgerton, Coughlan beautifully played her part. Let’s just hope everyone else catches up.

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